Why Do A Blog?

For a while now, I have considered doing a blog.  There are many reasons people may do a blog, such as to share an interest, bring attention to an important cause, or just share things about themselves.  I can't say that any of these exactly express why I decided to do one.  For me, a blog is a way for me to express my ideas, and potentially to receive feedback.  I am not looking for converts and I don't expect people to necessarily agree with me.  I do hope that the things I share will encourage people to think, and maybe consider why they think what they do about something.

I know I am getting old when I think about how much the world has changed during my life.  When I was young there was no widely used internet and no easy way to get one's ideas out to the world.  If you wanted to say something, you either wrote a letter or attended some sort of meeting or convention.  In high school, I remember the fad was carrying around pagers.  It wasn't until about the time that I graduated (97), that the internet really started to become prevalent.  I remember around the time of the new millennium, spending a lot of time in chat rooms and IMing people.  Looking back, it was all pretty pointless and rarely resulted in any real conversations.  After that, I moved to message boards.  At least I could pick a topic, read and respond.  I could follow a topic and respond to it, much better than chat rooms with wanderlust conversations.   Nonetheless, even message boards were difficult to keep up with.  An active board would have so many post, many rehashing prior comments.  After all, nobody would actually go back and read everything that has been already said.  Thus, they also became increasingly tiresome.  As of late, my main connection has been facebook.  It allowed me to connect with people I haven't seen in years, and also to follow and support topics that interest me.  But, even though it allows me to share post and to make short comments, it is not the same as actually putting MY ideas down.  A blog allows me to be more thorough and to also have a record of all the things I've written for future reference.

We are more connected than ever.  Never before could we express ourselves to an international audience.  Anyone in the world can see and comment via our social media outlets.  We can follow news from anywhere in the world, and even order exotic items via online shopping.  People play video games online and even make friends through these connections.  We are in a time when we can be better friends with someone we never met via the internet, than the person in our neighborhood.  I'm not in favor of the loss of local community , but I do think there is much to be gained from the online connections that allow us to reach a larger audience.  It is only now, with this new medium, that anyone can raise their voice and be heard. 

If you know me, you know that I have many thoughts, and I'd like the opportunity to express them.  You may not agree with me, but I think you will find them thought provoking.  And if so, please share your thoughts with me.  I love a good conversation.